Did a Ukraine S-300 defense system hit two Romanian military aircraft - a MIG-21 fighter and an IAR 300 helicopter - in March 2022, leading to the death of eight military servicemen? No, that's not true: The official investigation is ongoing, but preliminary results and military sources indicate that technical factors most likely caused the two crashes. Romanian officials quickly denied any connection to the war in Ukraine.
The claim originated in 2022 and reappeared in 2023 as a video published on TikTok on March 27, titled "Ukraine attacked a NATO member state. Who's responsible for the Romanian deaths?" (archived here).
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Mon Apr 3 16:00:27 2023 UTC)
On March 2, 2022, a MiG-21 LanceR fighter crashed in Constanța, Romania. An IAR-330 Puma Helicopter also crashed in the same area, on the same day, shortly after being sent to look for the fighter. Eight Romanian military servicemen died. Neither aircraft crossed the border with Ukraine nor got close to it. An investigation into the incident is still ongoing. The Romanian Airforce (RoAF) quickly denied any connection to the war in Ukraine, stating that any claim that a Ukrainian S-300 system had hit the two aircraft was Russian misinformation, adding that preliminary inquiries showed no signs of a possible impact with a missile or projectile. According to military sources, both crashes were probably caused by technical errors.
